US20100064902A1 - Device for diluting discharged steam and cooker with the same - Google Patents
Device for diluting discharged steam and cooker with the same Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20100064902A1 US20100064902A1 US12/513,302 US51330207A US2010064902A1 US 20100064902 A1 US20100064902 A1 US 20100064902A1 US 51330207 A US51330207 A US 51330207A US 2010064902 A1 US2010064902 A1 US 2010064902A1
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- United States
- Prior art keywords
- discharged
- diluting device
- cooker
- duct
- discharged steam
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- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Abandoned
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Classifications
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
- F24C—DOMESTIC STOVES OR RANGES ; DETAILS OF DOMESTIC STOVES OR RANGES, OF GENERAL APPLICATION
- F24C15/00—Details
- F24C15/32—Arrangements of ducts for hot gases, e.g. in or around baking ovens
- F24C15/322—Arrangements of ducts for hot gases, e.g. in or around baking ovens with forced circulation
- F24C15/327—Arrangements of ducts for hot gases, e.g. in or around baking ovens with forced circulation with air moisturising
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- F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
- F24—HEATING; RANGES; VENTILATING
- F24C—DOMESTIC STOVES OR RANGES ; DETAILS OF DOMESTIC STOVES OR RANGES, OF GENERAL APPLICATION
- F24C15/00—Details
- F24C15/20—Removing cooking fumes
- F24C15/2007—Removing cooking fumes from oven cavities
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a discharged steam diluting device that dilutes steam discharged from a cooker through a gas discharge passage, and a cooker provided therewith.
- Oven-type cookers for cooking food put in a heating chamber with a heat medium have been increasingly popular in households in Japan.
- Oven-type cookers employ various heating methods such as one using radiant heat, one using a heat medium, and one using a microwave. Some employ more than one of such methods in combination.
- Typical examples of the heat medium used in oven-type cookers are hot air obtained by heating air and superheated steam.
- Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a cooker using superheated steam as a heat medium.
- Patent Document 2 listed below discloses a cooker in which superheated steam and hot air can be selectively used as a heat medium.
- Patent Document 1 JP-A-2005-195247
- Patent Document 2 JP-A-2006-84082
- the heat medium In oven-type cookers using a heat medium for heating, the heat medium is brought into circulation while it is heated. In cases where steam is used as a heat medium, steam produced by a steam generating device joins the circulation flow. The heat medium, after it is heated, is strongly blown into a heating chamber to heat food at high speed.
- the heat medium is blown into the heating chamber under pressure by a blower; to put it the other way around, interior pressure of the heating chamber increases. Too high interior pressure may cause a door of the heating chamber, which is maintained closed by the power of a spring, to be opened.
- a gas discharge passage is formed in the heating chamber such that, when the interior pressure of the heating chamber has risen too high, the heat medium is automatically discharged through the gas discharge passage.
- the gas discharge passage is also used to forcibly discharge the heat medium a little before the completion of cooking, for the purpose of reducing the amount of heat medium flowing toward the user when he/she opens the door of the heating chamber to take out food after the completion of cooking.
- Gas discharged through the gas discharge passage not only is hot but also contains large amounts of steam and greasy fumes.
- the wall is directly exposed to hot steam, and thus the wall may become undesirably wet.
- the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a device for use with a cooker that makes it possible to prevent the wall from becoming undesirably wet even when a cooker having a gas discharge passage for discharging gas from inside a heating chamber is placed near a wall.
- a discharged steam diluting device diluting steam discharged from a cooker through a gas discharge passage is provided with a duct simultaneously sucking in and mixing steam discharged from the cooker with ambient air.
- an outlet port of the duct is open in a predetermined direction.
- the predetermined direction in which the outlet port of the duct is open is a frontward direction or a diagonally frontward direction of the cooker.
- the duct have an inlet port at one end thereof and the outlet port at an other end thereof, that the inlet port be located so as to cover an outlet port of the gas discharge passage, and that a gap between the inlet port of the duct and the outlet port of the gas discharge passage function as an ambient air inlet port.
- a wind deflector be provided in the outlet port.
- the direction in which discharged gas flows from the cooker can be changed according to where the cooker is placed, and thereby the discharged gas can be led away from a place that it should not reach.
- a throat portion having a reduced flow passage area be formed in the duct, and that wind from a blower be blown into the throat portion through a nozzle disposed coaxially with the throat portion to generate a suction force in the inlet port.
- the duct be branched into two branch ducts on a downstream side of the throat portion, the two branch ducts each extending in diagonal directions to be increasingly away from each other, and that the outlet port be formed one at an end of each of the branch ducts.
- a bottom surface of the duct be lowered toward the inlet port in a section from the inlet port to the throat portion to form a water drain passage for draining water to the outlet port.
- the bottom surface of the duct be lowered toward the outlet port in a section from the throat portion to the outlet portion with a reservoir recess formed at a lowermost position.
- condensation formed on the surface of the section from the throat portion to the outlet port can be collected in the reservoir recess, and this prevents water from dripping down from the outlet port.
- the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that at least part of a top surface portion of the duct be formed detachable.
- part of the top surface portion of the duct can be detached to easily clean an interior of the duct when it has become dirty with greasy fumes and the like.
- the top surface portion of the duct be formed detachable, and that steam-leakage preventing means be provided at a fitting portion between the at least part of the top surface portion of the duct that is formed detachable and a main body of the duct at least in a section from the throat portion to the outlet port.
- the interior pressure of the duct is positive downstream from the throat portion. This may cause steam to leak through the fitting portion between the detachable part of the top surface portion and the main body of the duct in the section from the throat portion to the outlet port.
- the provision of the steam-leakage preventing means in this position helps prevent this, and thus is significant in terms of enhancing the market appeal of the cooker.
- the duct and the blower form a detachable discharged gas cooling unit that is separate from the cooker main body.
- the duct and blower can be an option, and thus the user, if he/she does not need it, can purchase the cooker main body alone with less cost than otherwise.
- positioning means be provided for determining relative positions of the discharged gas cooling unit and the cooker main body with respect to each other, and that an adapter be prepared for adapting the inlet port to the gas discharge passage.
- the discharged gas cooling unit and the cooker main body be connected to each other with a connector such that the discharged gas cooling unit is supplied with power and controlled from the cooker main body.
- the discharged gas cooling unit can be controlled in accordance with the operation of the cooker main body, and this saves the user time and trouble of manually operating the discharged gas cooling unit.
- an electrical/electronic component isolation chamber be formed under a bottom surface of the discharged gas cooling unit.
- part of a top surface portion of the discharged gas cooling unit be formed as a detachable top lid that can be detached to disclose the interior of the duct.
- part of the top surface portion of the duct can be detached to easily clean the interior of the duct when it has become dirty with greasy fumes and the like.
- the top lid be divided into a front and rear top lids, and that a wind deflector is provided in the front top lid for deflecting wind blowing out from the outlet port.
- a cooker is combined with the discharged steam diluting device having any one of the structures described above.
- the present invention since steam is discharged from a cooker through a gas discharge passage in a frontward direction or a diagonally frontward direction of the cooker after it is mixed with ambient air to be diluted, and thus a moisture source therein is reduced, even when the cooker is placed in a narrow space in a kitchen such as a space under a shelf cupboard or between a wall and a refrigerator, steam does not stay in the narrow space, and this helps prevent a wall surface in the narrow space from becoming hot or prevent condensation from forming on the wall surface.
- duct and blower are integrated as a detachable discharged gas cooling unit that is separate from a cooker main body, the duct and blower can be an option, and thus the user, if he/she does not need them, can purchase the cooker main body alone at a lower cost than otherwise.
- FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a cooker
- FIG. 2 is a front view of the cooker
- FIG. 3 is a front view showing a heating chamber, with the door to the heating chamber opened;
- FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view illustrating how a food tray is used
- FIG. 5 is a diagram for illustrating the overall structure
- FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a gas discharge passage
- FIG. 7 is a front view of a discharged gas cooling unit
- FIG. 8 is a top view of the discharged gas cooling unit
- FIG. 9 is a horizontal sectional view of the discharged gas cooling unit
- FIG. 10 is a partially-enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 9 ;
- FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the bottom surface of the discharged gas cooling unit
- FIG. 12 is a control block diagram
- FIG. 13 is a horizontal sectional view showing the discharged gas cooling unit combined with a cooker main body of a different type
- FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an adapter
- FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the adapter as seen from a different direction.
- a cooker 1 is provided with a cooker main body 2 and a discharged gas cooling unit 3 .
- the structure of the cooker main body 2 will be described first.
- the cooker main body 2 has a cabinet 10 in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, and a door 11 is provided on the front face of the cabinet 10 for opening and closing an opening of a heating chamber 20 .
- the door 11 rotates in a vertical plane about a door rotation axis (not shown) horizontally provided at the bottom thereof.
- a handle 12 fitted in an upper part of the door 11 is held and pulled frontward, the door 11 changes its position through 90 degrees from a vertical, closed state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to a horizontal, fully-opened state shown in FIG. 3 .
- a middle part 11 C of the door 11 has a pane of heat-resistant glass set therein to form a see-through part.
- a left-side part 11 L and a right-side part 11 R are arranged symmetrically.
- an operation portion 13 is provided on the right-side portion 11 R.
- “left side” and “right side” denote the left-hand side and the right-hand side, respectively, of the user standing facing the cooker 1 .
- parts closer to the user are referred to with expressions with the word “front”, whereas parts farther away from the user are referred to with expressions with the word “rear”.
- FIG. 3 When the door 11 is opened, a front face of the cabinet 10 appears as shown in FIG. 3 .
- the heating chamber 20 is provided in the part of the cabinet 10 corresponding to the middle part 11 C of the door 11 .
- a water tank accommodating portion 80 is provided in the part of the cabinet 10 corresponding to the left-side part 11 L of the door 11 .
- a control circuit board is arranged inside, with no opening provided in front thereof.
- the heating chamber 20 has the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, and an opening is formed in the front face thereof at which it faces the door 11 for putting and taking food in and out of the heating chamber 20 .
- the other faces of the heating chamber 20 are formed of stainless steel plates.
- heat insulation is applied around the heating chamber 20 .
- the cooker main body 2 is designed to use not only a heat medium but also a microwave to heat food. A description will be given below of how food is heated, mainly with reference to FIG. 5 .
- a microwave generating device 21 is disposed under a bottom part of the heating chamber 20 .
- the bottom part of the heating chamber 20 is made of a material such as glass or ceramics that transmits a microwave, and an antenna chamber 22 is formed thereunder.
- an antenna 23 is accommodated, and the antenna 23 swings in a horizontal plane by being driven by an antenna motor 24 .
- a microwave is sent from a magnetron 25 through a waveguide tube 26 , and the antenna 23 supplies the thus sent microwave into the heating chamber 20 .
- the magnetron 25 oscillates with power supplied from a microwave driving power supply 27 (see FIG. 12 ).
- a lower heater 28 is disposed under the bottom part of the heating chamber 20 .
- the lower heater 28 heats the heat medium present inside the heating chamber 20 up to a predetermined temperature in cooperation with a heat medium heater 42 , which will be described later.
- the cooker 1 uses superheated steam or hot air as a heat medium, and the heat medium circulates along a circulation passage composed of the heat chamber 20 and an outer circulation passage 30 .
- the outer circulation passage 30 starts at an inlet port 31 formed at an upper part of a rear wall of the heating chamber 20 .
- the inlet port 31 is formed as a set of small through holes.
- the inlet port 31 is followed by a blower 32 .
- the blower 32 is fitted to the outer surface of the rear wall of the heating chamber 20 .
- the blower 32 is provided with a centrifugal fan 33 , a fan casing 34 accommodating the centrifugal fan 33 , and a fan motor 35 (see FIG. 6 ) that rotates the centrifugal fan 33 .
- Used as the centrifugal fan 33 is a sirocco fan.
- Used as the fan motor 35 is a direct-current motor capable of high-speed rotation.
- the heat medium discharged from the fan casing 34 is sent through a duct 36 to a heat medium heating portion 40 .
- the heat medium heating portion 40 which is composed of a heat medium heating chamber 41 formed above a ceiling part of the heating chamber 20 and the heat medium heater 42 disposed in the heat medium heating chamber 41 , is provided at a position corresponding to the center of the ceiling part of the heating chamber 20 as seen from above.
- the heat medium heater 42 is built with a sheath heater.
- the heat medium after being heated at the heat medium heating portion 40 , is supplied to the heating chamber 20 as jets coming from above and sideways into the heating chamber 20 .
- the circulation passage of the heat medium has a simple composition and the shortest possible length, running from the inlet port 31 formed in the rear wall of the heating chamber 20 , via the blower 32 fitted to the outer surface of the rear wall, to the heat medium heating portion 40 provided on the ceiling part of the heating chamber 20 , and back to the heating chamber 20 .
- Such a circulation passage makes it possible to feed an ample amount of steam into the heating chamber 20 to replace gas present inside the heating chamber 20 with the steam to achieve a low-oxygen state (where the oxygen density is 0.5% or less) that is an approximately oxygen-free state.
- An upper heat medium supply port 43 is provided at an upper part of the heating chamber 20 .
- the upper heat medium supply port 43 is built as a jet cover 44 , which is not only a bottom part of the heat medium heating chamber 41 but also a part of the ceiling part of the heating chamber 20 .
- the jet cover 44 has the shape of an inverted dome that is trapezoidal in vertical section.
- a large part around the center of the jet cover 44 is formed as a horizontal surface, in which are formed a plurality of vertical jet holes 45 from which the heat medium is jetted vertically downward.
- the remaining part, which is around the horizontal surface is formed as a tilted surface, in which are formed a plurality of oblique jet holes 46 from which the heat medium is jetted obliquely downward.
- side heat medium supply ports 47 are provided on the outer surfaces of the right and left side walls of the heating chamber 20 .
- the heat medium is sent to the two side heat medium supply ports 47 through a duct 48 from the heat medium heating portion 40 .
- the heating chamber- 20 side of each of the side heat medium supply ports 47 is formed as an opening, from which the heat medium flows into the heating chamber 20 as a jet. That is, these parts function as jet-flow forming portions.
- Bottom parts of the side heat medium supply ports 47 function as guide portions 49 for determining directions of jets.
- the cooker 1 is provided with a steam generating device 60 for generating steam as the heat medium.
- the steam generating device 60 has a cylindrical pot 61 disposed such that its centerline is vertically positioned.
- the interior of the pot 61 is concentrically separated by a cylindrical partition 62 ; the section inside the partition 62 is a water level detecting chamber 63 and the section outside the partition 62 is a steam generating chamber 64 .
- the partition 62 reaches near the bottom of the pot 61 , and the water level detecting chamber 63 and the steam generating chamber 64 communicate with each other in water.
- the upper space of the water level detecting chamber 63 communicates with the atmosphere.
- a steam generating heater 65 formed as a coiled sheath heater is disposed for heating water.
- a steam deriving pipe 64 a is provided to lead to a steam supply pipe 66 .
- the steam deriving pipe 64 a is disposed in the ceiling of the pot 61 , but it may be disposed in the side of the pot 61 .
- the exit part of the steam supply pipe 66 is connected to the suction side of the fan casing 34 .
- the fan casing 34 functions as a steam supply portion supplying steam to the circulation passage.
- the steam supply pipe 66 is built with a flexible tube such as a rubber tube or a silicone tube.
- the steam deriving pipe 64 a is inserted into the steam supply pipe 66 to link the steam supply pipe 66 to the pot 61 .
- a water supply pipe 67 and an overflow pipe 68 are each connected to the pot 61 so as to communicate with space in the upper part of the water level detecting chamber 63 .
- Water is poured into the pot 61 through the water supply pipe 67 from a water tank 81 accommodated in the water tank accommodating chamber 80 (see FIG. 3 ), and a water supply pump 69 is provided on the way along the water supply pipe 67 .
- the bottom part of the pot 61 is formed in the shape of a funnel, and a water drain pipe 70 extends therefrom.
- a water drain valve 71 is provided on the way along the water drain pipe 70 .
- the water supply pump 69 sucks water up not directly from the water tank 81 but from an intermediate tank 72 which is connected to the water tank 81 .
- an outlet pipe 82 protrudes toward the rear of the water tank accommodating chamber 80 , and the outlet pipe 82 is connected to an inlet pipe 73 protruding laterally from the intermediate tank 72 .
- the outlet pipe 82 When the water tank 81 is pulled out from the water tank accommodating portion 80 , the outlet pipe 82 is disconnected from the inlet pipe 73 , and thus, unless some measure is taken, the water inside the water tank 81 and the intermediate tank 72 spills out. To prevent this, the outlet pipe 82 and the inlet pipe 73 are fitted with coupling plugs 74 a and 74 b . In the state where the outlet pipe 82 is connected to the inlet pipe 73 as shown in FIG.
- the coupling plugs 74 a and 74 b couple to each other to permit passage of water; when the outlet pipe 82 is disconnected from the inlet pipe 73 , the coupling plugs 74 a and 74 b are each shut to prevent water from spilling out of the water tank 81 and the intermediate tank 72 .
- the water supply pipe 67 enters the intermediate tank 72 and an end thereof extends close to the bottom of the intermediate tank 72 .
- the overflow pipe 68 is connected to the upper space of the intermediate tank 72 .
- the upper space in the intermediate tank 72 communicates with the atmosphere via an unillustrated pressure release opening, and thus the upper space in the water level detecting chamber 63 also communicates with the atmosphere.
- the water drain pipe 70 is connected to a water supply port 83 of the water tank 81 .
- a pot water level sensor 75 is disposed for detecting the water level in the pot 61 .
- a water level sensor 76 is disposed for detecting the water level therein.
- the pot water level sensor 75 is composed of a pair of electrode rods extending vertically downward from a ceiling part of the water level detecting chamber 63
- the water level sensor 76 is composed of a total of four electrode rods extending vertically downward from a ceiling part of the intermediate tank 72 .
- a GND electrode a potential at which is a reference potential and a positive electrode are included in the electrode rods.
- the pot water level sensor 75 is located a little higher than the steam generating heater 65 .
- a leak passage 77 is formed to allow the heat medium to leak out of the heating chamber 20 to adjust the interior pressure of the heating chamber 20 .
- a gas discharge passage 78 is formed for discharging a large amount of heat medium at one stroke.
- an electrically-operated damper 79 is provided for opening/closing the gas discharge passage 78 .
- the fan casing 34 is formed by combining two shells 34 a and 34 b , and in the shell 34 a , which is located on the side that faces the heating chamber 20 , an inlet port 37 is formed to connect to the inlet port 31 . Since pressure is negative at the suction side of the centrifugal fan 33 , air tends to flow through the joint of the inlet port 37 and an outer surface of the heating chamber 20 . To prevent this, it is necessary to firmly join the inlet port 37 to the outer surface of the heating chamber 20 . This is because inflow of air through the joint makes it difficult to realize oxygen-free cooking which will be described later. To achieve this object, air inflow preventing means is provided at the joint of the outer surface of the heating chamber 20 and the inlet port 37 .
- the air inflow preventing means is realized by taking one of or a combination of various measures including: forming the inlet port 37 in a circular shape to make it easy for pressure to be uniformly applied to the inlet port 37 ; disposing a sealing member between the outer surface of the heating chamber 20 and the inlet port 37 ; and using a large number of bolts in joining the fan casing 34 to the heating chamber 20 with bolts.
- a duct 120 forming a front half of the gas discharge passage 78 is formed back-to-back with an outlet portion through which the heat medium is discharged into the duct 36 .
- the duct 120 extends toward the rear side of the cabinet 10 , and in an upper surface thereof, an opening 121 is formed through which an arm 79 a of the damper 79 is inserted. Through the opening 121 , the gas discharge passage 78 communicates with the atmosphere.
- an end cap 122 forming a rear half of the gas discharge passage 78 is connected via a gasket 123 .
- an outlet port 124 is formed through which gas is discharged upward.
- the outlet port 124 has a ventilation-grill structure.
- the end cap 122 is exposed to the outside of the cooker 1 .
- the outlet port 124 is also exposed to the outside of the cooker 1 . Gas is discharged from the outlet port 124 not in a vertically upward direction but in a direction that is tilted a little forward with respect to the vertically upward direction. This is for preferably preventing, when the cooker 1 is placed close to a wall, discharged gas from staining the wall behind the cooker 1 .
- the leak passage 77 is also connected to the end cap 122 .
- an infiltration-water retreat portion 125 is formed at the bottom part of the gas discharge passage 78 .
- the infiltration-water retreat portion 125 is formed in a bottom part of the end cap 122 .
- a water drain port 126 is formed, and a water drain hose 127 is connected to the water drain port 126 .
- the water drain hose 127 drains water to a water receiving pan 128 (see FIG. 5 ) placed in a bottom part of the cabinet 10 .
- the operation of the cooker 1 is controlled by a control device 90 shown in FIG. 12 .
- the control device 90 includes a microprocessor and a memory, and controls the cooker 1 according to a predetermined program.
- the status of control is indicated on a display portion 14 in the operation portion 13 .
- the display portion is built with, for example, a liquid crystal panel.
- the control device 90 receives operation instructions from various operation keys arranged on the operation portion 13 as they are operated.
- a sound generating device is also arranged for generating various sounds.
- a temperature sensor 91 for measuring temperature inside the heating chamber 20 and a humidity sensor 92 for measuring humidity of gas that is being discharged through the gas discharge passage 78 are connected to the control device 90 .
- the humidity sensor 92 is disposed in the duct 120 above a bottom surface of the duct 120 , specifically on an inner wall of the duct 120 downstream side of the damper 79 in the gas discharge direction.
- Food F is supported inside the heating chamber 20 by a food tray 100 forming a food support unit U together with a food support net 110 .
- a tray holder is provided for holding the food tray 100 at a predetermined height when the food tray 100 is inserted therein.
- the tray holder is formed for horizontally supporting the food tray 100 by holding right and left sides of the food tray 100 .
- the tray holders are provided in three stages from the topmost stage to the bottommost stage.
- a first tray holder 101 located at the topmost stage supports the food tray 100 at a position above side flows of the heat medium flowing into the heating chamber 20 from the side heat medium supply ports 47 .
- a second tray holder 102 located at a middle stage supports the food tray 100 at a position where the side flows of the heat medium flow to the food tray 100 from above.
- a third tray holder 103 located at the bottommost stage supports the food tray 100 at a position a predetermined distance below the second tray holder 102 .
- the first, second, and third tray holders 101 , 102 , and 103 are formed as ridge-like structure protruding from the side walls of the heating chamber 20 .
- the food support net 110 is placed above the food tray 100 , and the food F is placed on the food support net 110 .
- the cooker 1 has: a hot-air cooking mode in which heat is applied by use of hot air; a steam cooking mode in which heat is applied by use of steam; and a microwave cooking mode in which heat is applied by use of a microwave.
- the steam cooking mode includes a steam roasting mode in which heat is applied by use of superheated steam and a steaming mode in which food is steamed with saturated steam.
- the cooker main body 2 is operated and operates as follows. In a case of cooking in the steam roasting mode using superheated steam as the heat medium, first, the door 11 is opened, then the water tank 81 is taken out from the water tank accommodating portion 80 , and then water is poured into the water tank 81 through the water supply port 83 . Filled with water, the water tank 81 is then put back into the water tank accommodating portion 80 and is set in position.
- the control device 90 starts to generate steam; if the amount water inside the water tank 81 is found to be insufficient to execute the selected option in the cooking menu, the control device 90 indicates the corresponding warning on the display portion 14 . In this case, the control device 90 does not start to generate steam until the shortage of water is overcome.
- the water supply pump 69 starts to operate, and starts to supply water to the steam generating device 60 .
- the water drain valve 71 is closed.
- the operation of the water supply pump 69 is stopped.
- the water level inside the pot 61 continues to rise beyond a predetermined level; however, when it reaches an overflow level, the water inside the pot 61 returns to the intermediate tank 72 through the overflow pipe 68 .
- water does not overflow from the pot 61 .
- the steam generating heater 65 heats the water inside the steam generating chamber 64 directly.
- the temperature of water inside the water level detecting chamber 63 also rises as a result of water circulating between the water level detecting chamber 63 and the steam generating chamber 64 through the communicating portion and also as a result of heat transfer to the water level detecting chamber 63 through the partition 62 ; however, the rising rate of the temperature is moderate compared with that of the water inside the steam generating chamber 64 .
- the steam that has entered the heat medium heating portion 40 is heated to 300° C. by the heat medium heater 42 , and is thus turned into superheated steam.
- the superheated steam jets into the heating chamber 20 from the upper heat medium supply port 43 as downward and obliquely downward jets.
- Part of the superheated steam flows through the ducts 48 into the side heat medium supply ports 47 , and is then jetted out into the heating chamber 20 as a little downward sideway heat medium jets through the side heat medium supply ports 47 .
- condensation heat generated when superheated steam condenses on the surface of the food F.
- a large amount of heat can be applied in the form of the condensation heat, which is as large as 539 cal/g, and thereby the food F is heated quickly.
- the superheated steam condenses preferentially on a low-temperature part of the surface of the food F, and this helps reduce unevenness in heating.
- the heat medium heater 42 In cooking by use of superheated steam, the heat medium heater 42 is not necessarily supplied with electric power continuously; electric power is sometimes supplied to the lower heater 28 instead.
- the amounts of electric power consumption by the heaters are set, for example, such that the electric power consumption by the steam generating heater 65 is 1300 W, that by the heat medium heater 42 is also 1300 W, and that by the lower heater 28 is 700 W.
- duty control is adopted here to change the power supply target in turn in a time-division manner to obtain an optimum result. The same applies to the heating by use of hot air.
- the control device 90 restarts the operation of the water supply pump 69 .
- the water supply pump 69 sucks up water from the intermediate tank 72 to supply a given amount of water to the pot 61 .
- the control device 90 stops the operation of the water supply pump 69 again.
- the control device 90 On completion of cooking, the control device 90 indicates a corresponding message on the display portion 14 and sounds an alert. Notified with these message and alert that cooking has been finished, the user opens the door 11 , and takes the food tray 100 out of the heating chamber 20 . If no cooking is scheduled thereafter, the water discharge valve 71 opens and the water present inside the pot 61 is returned to the water tank 81 .
- saturated steam before turned into superheated steam is sent into the heating chamber 20 to steam cook the food F.
- the damper 79 is positioned as shown in FIG. 6 to close the gas discharge passage 78 to inhibit steam from entering the humidity sensor 92 side of the gas discharge passage 78 . This helps prevent gas containing a large amount of steam from coming in touch with the humidity sensor 92 to condense thereon. Furthermore, since the damper 79 inhibits steam from entering the gas discharge passage 78 , the steam density inside the heating chamber 20 increases to reduce the oxygen density inside the heating chamber 20 to be close to zero; in this way, oxygen-free cooking can be achieved with ease.
- the food F is heated with the oxygen density inside heating chamber 20 maintained 0.5% or lower. With oxygen density of this level, the cooking effects expected from oxygen-free cooking can be substantially fully achieved.
- the damper 79 is operated to open the entrance of the gas discharge passage 78 to lead the hot heat medium into the gas discharge passage 78 .
- the microwave generating device 21 When the microwave cooking mode in which heat is applied by use of a microwave is selected, the microwave generating device 21 is driven.
- the microwave generating device 21 can be used alone, and it can also be used together with superheated steam or hot air.
- the damper 79 moves to a position where it allows steam to flow into the humidity sensor 92 side of the gas discharge passage 78 .
- gas containing steam from the food is discharged out of the cooker 1 .
- the humidity sensor 92 measures the humidity of this gas.
- the control device 90 recognizes that steam has jetted out from the food F as a result of the food F fully heated, that is, cooking has been completed, and stops the microwave heating.
- the damper 79 when it has moved to the position where it allows steam to flow into the humidity sensor 92 side of the gas discharge passage 78 , closes the opening 121 from inside the gas discharge passage 78 .
- This control prevents air from flowing in through the opening 121 to dilute steam, and prevents steam from leaking outside through the opening 121 . This helps avoid the inconvenience of measurement error of the humidity sensor 92 becoming large.
- the food F placed on the food tray 100 is inserted in the heating chamber 20 , and at this time, different tray holder is selected to support the food tray 100 for different options in the cooking menu.
- the food tray 100 should be supported by the second tray holder 102 , and a corresponding message is indicated in the display portion 14 as an instruction.
- Cooking by use of hot air can be performed with the food tray 100 supported by any one of the first tray holder 101 , the second tray holder 103 , and the third tray holder 103 .
- Cooking by use of hot air can also be performed using two food trays, that is, with two of the food tray 100 respectively supported by the first tray holder 101 and the third tray holder 103 .
- in the display portion 14 is indicated a message to the effect that the first tray holder 101 and the third tray holder 103 are to be used.
- the food support net 110 When the second tray holder 102 is used to hold the food tray 100 , the food support net 110 is placed above the food tray 100 , and the food F is placed on the support net 110 to float above the surface of the food tray 100 .
- the food support net 110 can also exert its advantage when it is used with the food tray 100 supported by the first tray holder 101 or the third tray holder 103 .
- the use of the food support net 110 is substantially indispensable to allow the side heat medium jets flowing out in obliquely downward directions from the side heat medium supply ports 47 to flow along the bottom surface of the food F.
- Superheated steam is blown downward from the upper heat medium supply port 43 onto the food F placed on the food tray 100 supported by the second tray holder 102 . Furthermore, the side heat medium jets of superheated steam from the side heat medium supply ports 47 hit the surface of the food tray 100 to change their directions upward, superheated steam is also blown onto the bottom surface of the food F. In this way, superheated steam is blown both from above and from below onto the food F, and thus all parts of the food F evenly receive heat transferred by convection and condensate heat (latent heat) to be efficiently heated. Melted fat and meat juice dripping down from the food F is received by the food tray 100 , and is discarded after cooking is finished.
- the food F placed on the food tray 100 supported by the second tray holder 102 can be cooked by use of hot air. Being put on the food supporting net 110 above the food tray 100 , the food F can be evenly heated with hot air blowing thereonto both from above and from below. In this case, too, melted fat and meat juice dripping down from the food F is received by the food tray 100 , and is discarded after cooking is finished.
- the humidity sensor 92 disposed on the inner wall of the gas discharge passage 78 is used in microwave cooking for determining whether or not cooking is finished. At this time, condensation is formed inside the gas discharge passage 78 . Besides during microwave cooking, when the door 11 is opened during cooking with superheated steam, the damper 79 opens to allow a large amount of steam flow into the gas discharge passage 78 to form condensation.
- the condensation flows down to the bottom part of the gas discharge passage 78 . If the condensation accumulates so much that the humidity sensor 92 becomes wet with the condensation, the humidity sensor 92 cannot measure humidity. In this embodiment, however, since the infiltration-water retreat portion 125 is provided, the condensation flowing down to the bottom part of the gas discharge passage 78 retreats to the infiltration-water retreat portion 125 , and thus does not accumulate so much as to make the humidity sensor 92 wet. Thus, humidity never fails to be measured.
- the water drain port 126 is provided in the infiltration-water retreat portion 125 . This helps immediately discharge the condensation to prevent the humidity sensor 92 from becoming wet with water. Water flowing in through the outlet port 124 is also discharged from the water drain port 126 , and thus never comes close to the humidity sensor 92 .
- the humidity sensor 92 Since the humidity sensor 92 is located to the upstream side of the infiltration-water retreat portion 125 in the air discharge direction, even if the condensation water rushes toward the humidity sensor 92 , it is pushed back by discharged air pressure; thus the humidity sensor 92 is prevented from becoming wet with water.
- the gas discharge passage 78 constantly communicates with the atmosphere via the opening 121 . As a result, even if condensation forms on the humidity sensor 92 , it can be easily dried off except while steam is being circulated, and this makes it possible for the humidity sensor 92 to perform accurate measurement of humidity.
- the discharged gas cooling unit 3 is to be placed on the top surface of the cooker main body 2 , and has its main components accommodated in a casing 150 that is made of a synthetic resin.
- the casing 150 is in the shape of a flat box, but it is not rectangular in the plan view, the right/left width thereof a little wider toward the front edge (see FIG. 8 ).
- Elastic legs 151 formed of rubber or a soft synthetic resin are provided in proper positions on a bottom surface of the casing 150 to prevent vibration of the discharged gas cooling unit 3 from reaching the cabinet 10 and to prevent the discharged gas cooling unit 3 from easily sliding.
- a duct 152 extending in the rear/front direction (see FIGS. 5 and 9 ).
- the rear end of the duct 152 is formed as an inlet port 153 and the front end of the duct 152 is formed as an outlet port 154 .
- a throat portion 155 having a reduced flow passage area is formed on the way along the duct 152 .
- the duct 152 is branched into branch ducts 152 L and 152 R on the downstream side of the throat portion 155 .
- the branch ducts 152 L and 152 R extend to be increasingly away from each other, and each have the outlet port 154 formed at its end.
- the section of the duct 152 from the inlet port 153 to the throat portion 155 is disposed rather in a left side of the casing 150 .
- a nozzle 156 is disposed to be coaxial with the throat portion 155 .
- wind from a blower 157 (see FIG. 9 ) disposed outside the duct 152 is blown into the throat portion 155 toward the outlet ports 154 .
- the blower 157 has the same structure as the blower 32 , and includes a centrifugal fan, a fan motor 158 (see FIG.
- centrifugal fan for rotating the centrifugal fan
- fan casing accommodating the centrifugal fan and the fan motor 158 .
- used as the centrifugal fan is a sirocco fan
- used as the fan motor 158 is a direct-current motor capable of high-speed rotation.
- An inlet portion of the blower 157 is provided in the bottom surface of the fan casing.
- the cooker main body 2 and the discharged gas cooling unit 3 are connected to each other with an unillustrated connector, and the discharged gas cooling unit 3 is supplied with power and controlled from the cooker main body 2 .
- the fan motor 158 is controlled by the control device 90 .
- a pendent portion 160 is formed (see FIGS. 6 and 7 ).
- the pendent portion 160 has, on a front surface thereof, a positioning protrusion 161 in the shape of the letter E lying on its side.
- the end cap 122 also has a positioning protrusion 129 on a rear surface thereof (see FIG. 6 ).
- the inlet port 153 covers the outlet port 124 ; in this state, however, the inlet port 153 does not precisely fit the outlet port 124 . That is, since the inlet port 153 is wider than the outlet port 124 in the front/rear direction, a rear part of the inlet port 153 lies off the outlet port 124 , and thereby a gap 162 (see FIG. 9 ) is formed.
- the gap 162 serves as an ambient air inlet port. Incidentally, FIG.
- the air-flow guide plate extending in the front/rear direction includes a plurality of air-flow guide plates extending in the front/rear direction, which are arranged at predetermined intervals in the right/left direction.
- the top surface portion of the casing 150 is composed of a detachable top lid.
- the top lid is divided into a front top lid 163 and a rear top lid 164 (see FIG. 8 ), both of which are snap-fittingly attached to the casing 150 by making use of elasticity of the synthetic resin.
- the dash-dot-dot line indicates a division line between the front and rear top lids 163 and 164 .
- the front and rear top lids 163 and 164 form a top surface portion of the duct 152 , and the interior of the main body of the duct 152 (part thereof except the top surface) appears when the front top lid 163 or the rear top lid 164 is detached.
- the steam-leakage preventing means is built as a complicatedly intricate rib structure. Specifically, upper ends of a side wall 152 a of the main body of the duct and an outer side wall 150 a of the casing 150 are linked with each other by a horizontal top wall 169 . From a top surface of the top wall 169 , two threads of ribs 169 a and 169 b protrude upward. The rib 169 a extends parallel to the outer side wall 150 a , and the rib 169 b extends parallel to the side wall 152 a .
- a rib 163 a extends downward from an outer edge of the front top lid 163 , and from a position inward from the outer edge of the front top lid 163 , a rib 163 b extends downward.
- the rib 163 a together with the outer side wall 150 a , forms the outer side wall of the casing 150 ;
- the rib 163 b together with the side wall 152 a , forms an inner side wall of the duct 152 .
- the ribs 169 a and 169 b are located between the ribs 163 a and 163 b.
- a lower end of the rib 163 b and an upper end of the side wall 152 a are firmly fitted to each other without a gap, or, if any, with an extremely narrow gap to prevent leakage of steam; an upper end of the rib 169 a and a bottom surface of the front top lid 163 are firmly fitted to each other without a gap, or, if any, with an extremely narrow gap to prevent leakage of steam; an upper end of the rib 169 b and the bottom surface of the front top lid 163 are firmly fitted to each other without a gap, or, if any, with an extremely narrow gap to prevent leakage of steam; and a lower end of the rib 163 a and an upper end of the outer side wall 150 a are firmly fitted to each other without a gap, or, if any, with an extremely narrow gap to prevent leakage of steam.
- leakage of steam is prevented at four positions, and this makes it possible to effectively prevent leakage of steam from the duct 152 .
- a gasket may be laid between the lower end of the rib 163 b and the upper end of the side wall 152 a , between the upper end of the rib 169 a and the bottom surface of the front top lid 163 , between the upper end of the rib 169 a and the bottom surface of the front top lid 163 , or between the lower end of the rib 163 a and the upper end of the outer side wall 150 a.
- Steam leakage preventing means as described above is also provided at the right side edge of the front top lid 163 . Furthermore, in the rear top lid 164 , steam leakage preventing means as described above is provided at a position in a section corresponding to “the section from the throat portion 155 and the outlet ports 154 ”.
- the wind deflector 165 is of a type typically used at outlet ports of air conditioners, and built as a combination of a wind deflection plate for changing the up/down wind direction and a wind deflection plate for changing the right/left wind direction.
- the wind deflection plates are formed to be variable in angle, and thereby the wind direction can be freely adjusted in up/down and right/left directions.
- An isolation chamber 166 for electric/electronic components is defined on a bottom surface of the casing 150 (see FIG. 11 ). Accommodated in the isolation chamber 166 are electric/electronic components of the discharged gas cooling unit 3 such as a control board of the blower 157 .
- a lid 167 of the isolation chamber 166 is, like the top lid, snap-fittingly attached to the casing 150 by making use of the elasticity of the synthetic resin.
- the fan motor 158 starts to be driven at the same time that cooking is started in the cooker main body 2 . Consequently, wind is blown out from the nozzle 156 , and air is sucked in through the inlet port 153 due to the ejector effect created at the throat portion 155 . The thus sucked-in air flows to the branch ducts 152 L and 152 R to be blown out from the outlet ports 154 formed at the ends of the branch ducts 152 L and 152 R.
- Hot gas discharged from the outlet port 124 during cooking that is, hot heat medium leaking out through the leak passage 77 and hot heat medium flowing out from the gas discharge passage 78 when the damper 79 is opened in the hot air cooking mode and in the steam cooking mode, or steam coming out from food when cooking is finished, is sucked from the inlet port 153 into the duct 152 .
- the inlet port 153 is also sucking in ambient air through the gap 162 , and the gas from the outlet port 124 is mixed with the ambient air and its temperature is lowered. At the same time, discharged steam contained in the gas is diluted so that it hardly causes a wall to become wet.
- the thus diluted gas is discharged from the outlet ports 154 in the frontward direction (or in a diagonally frontward direction depending on adjustment by the wind deflector 165 ) of the cooker 1 .
- a narrow space in a kitchen such as a space under a shelf cupboard or between a wall and a refrigerator
- steam does not stay in the narrow space. This helps prevent wall surface in the narrow space from becoming hot, or prevent condensation from forming on the surface of the wall.
- the gap 162 formed between the inlet port 153 and the outlet port 124 that serves as the ambient air inlet port. This eliminates the need of separately preparing an ambient air inlet port, and thus a simple structure can be achieved. Furthermore, even if the outlet port 124 is located near the wall surface, ambient air flows along the wall surface when it is sucked in, and this helps prevent condensation from forming due to the discharged gas.
- the duct 152 is branched into branch ducts 152 L and 152 R on the downstream side of the throat portion 155 .
- the branch ducts 152 L and 152 R extend to be increasingly away from each other, and have the outlet ports 154 formed at the ends of them.
- the outlet ports 154 are provided at two, right and left positions, avoiding the middle part of the cooker main body 2 .
- the direction of discharged gas may be changed according to where the cooker 1 is placed so as to make discharged gas flow away from a position that should not be exposed to it.
- the steam condenses on the inner surface of the duct 152 .
- the condensation flows down to the bottom surface of the duct 152 , and since the bottom surface of the duct 152 is tilted except the throat portion 155 , the condensation flows either in the front or rear direction.
- the part of the condensation that has flown toward the inlet port 153 flows into the outlet port 124 to be drained through the water drain port 126 . This saves the user time and trouble of dealing with the condensation.
- the part of the condensation that has flown toward the outlet ports 154 is collected in the reservoir recesses 168 , and this prevents water from dripping down from the outlet ports 154 .
- the interior of the duct 152 becomes dirty with greasy fumes and the like. Then, the front and rear top lids 163 and 164 are detached to disclose the interior of the duct 152 to be cleaned. When the front top lid 163 is detached, the wind deflector 165 also appears, and it also can be cleaned.
- the control board of the blower 157 is isolated and accommodated in the isolation chamber 166 . In this way, the control board can be protected from the heat medium, steam, and greasy fumes.
- the isolation chamber 166 may communicate with the inlet portion of the blower 157 , and part of the lid 167 may be formed as an air inlet portion.
- the control board can be air-cooled.
- partitions or the like should be properly provided to prevent heat medium or steam from intruding through the air inlet portion.
- FIG. 13 is a horizontal sectional view of the discharged gas cooling unit shown in FIG. 9
- FIGS. 14 and 15 are perspective views showing an adapter as seen from different angles.
- the discharged gas cooling unit 3 is combined with the cooker main body 2 whose outlet port 124 has a narrow width in the right/left direction.
- a large gap is formed between the left edge of the outlet port 124 and the left edge of the inlet port 153 , and, although a large amount of ambient air can be taken in through the large gap, only a small suction force is applied to the outlet port 124 .
- an adapter 170 shaped as shown in FIGS. 14 and 15 is fitted into the gap between the left edge of the outlet port 124 and the left edge of the inlet port 153 to plug the gap.
- the present invention finds wide application in cookers that discharge steam.
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Abstract
A cooker has a cooker main body and a discharged steam cooling unit placed at the top surface of the cooker main body. Inside the discharged steam cooling unit is a duct extending in the front/rear direction. The rear end of the duct is an inlet port connected to an outlet port of the cooker main body. A throat portion is formed in the duct. Air from a blower is blown into the throat portion through a nozzle to generate a suction force at the inlet port by an ejector effect. The duct is branched on the downstream side of the throat portion, and outlet ports are provided at the ends of the branched ducts. Ambient air is sucked in from a gap between the inlet port of the duct and the outlet port of the cooker main body.
Description
- The present invention relates to a discharged steam diluting device that dilutes steam discharged from a cooker through a gas discharge passage, and a cooker provided therewith.
- Oven-type cookers for cooking food put in a heating chamber with a heat medium have been increasingly popular in households in Japan. Oven-type cookers employ various heating methods such as one using radiant heat, one using a heat medium, and one using a microwave. Some employ more than one of such methods in combination. Typical examples of the heat medium used in oven-type cookers are hot air obtained by heating air and superheated steam.
Patent Document 1 listed below discloses a cooker using superheated steam as a heat medium.Patent Document 2 listed below discloses a cooker in which superheated steam and hot air can be selectively used as a heat medium. - Patent Document 1: JP-A-2005-195247
- Patent Document 2: JP-A-2006-84082
- In oven-type cookers using a heat medium for heating, the heat medium is brought into circulation while it is heated. In cases where steam is used as a heat medium, steam produced by a steam generating device joins the circulation flow. The heat medium, after it is heated, is strongly blown into a heating chamber to heat food at high speed.
- The heat medium is blown into the heating chamber under pressure by a blower; to put it the other way around, interior pressure of the heating chamber increases. Too high interior pressure may cause a door of the heating chamber, which is maintained closed by the power of a spring, to be opened. To prevent this, a gas discharge passage is formed in the heating chamber such that, when the interior pressure of the heating chamber has risen too high, the heat medium is automatically discharged through the gas discharge passage. The gas discharge passage is also used to forcibly discharge the heat medium a little before the completion of cooking, for the purpose of reducing the amount of heat medium flowing toward the user when he/she opens the door of the heating chamber to take out food after the completion of cooking.
- Gas discharged through the gas discharge passage not only is hot but also contains large amounts of steam and greasy fumes. As a result, if there is a wall immediately above or beside an outlet port, the wall is directly exposed to hot steam, and thus the wall may become undesirably wet.
- The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a device for use with a cooker that makes it possible to prevent the wall from becoming undesirably wet even when a cooker having a gas discharge passage for discharging gas from inside a heating chamber is placed near a wall.
- To achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, a discharged steam diluting device diluting steam discharged from a cooker through a gas discharge passage is provided with a duct simultaneously sucking in and mixing steam discharged from the cooker with ambient air. Here, an outlet port of the duct is open in a predetermined direction.
- With this structure, since steam discharged from the cooker through the gas discharge passage is mixed with ambient air and thereby diluted, it hardly causes a wall to become wet even if it flows toward the wall. Furthermore, a design such that the outlet port of the duct does not face a wall helps reduce the amount itself of discharged steam that flows toward the wall.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that the predetermined direction in which the outlet port of the duct is open is a frontward direction or a diagonally frontward direction of the cooker.
- With this structure, since steam, after it is diluted, is discharged from the cooker in the frontward or the diagonally frontward direction, even if the cooker is placed in a small space in a kitchen such as a space under a shelf cupboard or between a wall and a refrigerator, steam does not stay in the small space. This helps prevent a wall surface in the small space from becoming hot or prevent condensation from forming on the wall surface.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that the duct have an inlet port at one end thereof and the outlet port at an other end thereof, that the inlet port be located so as to cover an outlet port of the gas discharge passage, and that a gap between the inlet port of the duct and the outlet port of the gas discharge passage function as an ambient air inlet port.
- With this structure, there is no need of separately preparing an ambient air inlet port, and thus a simple structure can be achieved. In addition, even if the cooker is placed such that the outlet port is located near a wall surface, ambient air flows along the wall surface when it is sucked in, and this helps prevent condensation from forming due to gas discharged from the cooker.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that a wind deflector be provided in the outlet port.
- With this structure, the direction in which discharged gas flows from the cooker can be changed according to where the cooker is placed, and thereby the discharged gas can be led away from a place that it should not reach.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that a throat portion having a reduced flow passage area be formed in the duct, and that wind from a blower be blown into the throat portion through a nozzle disposed coaxially with the throat portion to generate a suction force in the inlet port.
- With this structure, since an ejector structure formed of the throat portion and the nozzle generates a suction force, sucked gas does not pass through the blower; as a result, the blower is not exposed to hot and highly humid gas, and thus it is free from damage due to hot and highly humid gas.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that the duct be branched into two branch ducts on a downstream side of the throat portion, the two branch ducts each extending in diagonal directions to be increasingly away from each other, and that the outlet port be formed one at an end of each of the branch ducts.
- With this structure, since two outlet ports are provided in right and left positions avoiding the center part of the cooker, even when the user stands in front of the cooker to look into the cooker through a see-through part of a door to check the cooking status, discharged gas flows away from the user. Thus, the user is free from the discomfort that would result from discharged gas blowing directly to him/her. In addition, a handle of the door, which is normally disposed at the top-center part of the door in oven-type cookers, can be prevented from being exposed to discharged gas.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that a bottom surface of the duct be lowered toward the inlet port in a section from the inlet port to the throat portion to form a water drain passage for draining water to the outlet port.
- With this structure, condensation formed on the surface of the section from the inlet port to the throat portion of the duct flows into the outlet port, and this saves the user time and trouble of dealing with the condensation.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that the bottom surface of the duct be lowered toward the outlet port in a section from the throat portion to the outlet portion with a reservoir recess formed at a lowermost position.
- With this structure, condensation formed on the surface of the section from the throat portion to the outlet port can be collected in the reservoir recess, and this prevents water from dripping down from the outlet port.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that at least part of a top surface portion of the duct be formed detachable.
- With this structure, part of the top surface portion of the duct can be detached to easily clean an interior of the duct when it has become dirty with greasy fumes and the like.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that at least part of the top surface portion of the duct be formed detachable, and that steam-leakage preventing means be provided at a fitting portion between the at least part of the top surface portion of the duct that is formed detachable and a main body of the duct at least in a section from the throat portion to the outlet port.
- The interior pressure of the duct is positive downstream from the throat portion. This may cause steam to leak through the fitting portion between the detachable part of the top surface portion and the main body of the duct in the section from the throat portion to the outlet port. The provision of the steam-leakage preventing means in this position helps prevent this, and thus is significant in terms of enhancing the market appeal of the cooker.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that the duct and the blower form a detachable discharged gas cooling unit that is separate from the cooker main body.
- With this structure, the duct and blower can be an option, and thus the user, if he/she does not need it, can purchase the cooker main body alone with less cost than otherwise.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that, in the discharged gas cooling unit and in the cooker main body, positioning means be provided for determining relative positions of the discharged gas cooling unit and the cooker main body with respect to each other, and that an adapter be prepared for adapting the inlet port to the gas discharge passage.
- With this structure, a single type of discharged gas cooling unit can be compatible with various types of cooker main bodies.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that the discharged gas cooling unit and the cooker main body be connected to each other with a connector such that the discharged gas cooling unit is supplied with power and controlled from the cooker main body.
- With this structure, the discharged gas cooling unit can be controlled in accordance with the operation of the cooker main body, and this saves the user time and trouble of manually operating the discharged gas cooling unit.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that an electrical/electronic component isolation chamber be formed under a bottom surface of the discharged gas cooling unit.
- With this structure, electrical/electronic components can be protected from a heat medium, steam, greasy fumes, and the like.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that part of a top surface portion of the discharged gas cooling unit be formed as a detachable top lid that can be detached to disclose the interior of the duct.
- With this structure, part of the top surface portion of the duct can be detached to easily clean the interior of the duct when it has become dirty with greasy fumes and the like.
- According to the present invention, in the discharged steam diluting device structured as described above, it is preferable that the top lid be divided into a front and rear top lids, and that a wind deflector is provided in the front top lid for deflecting wind blowing out from the outlet port.
- With this structure, not the whole top lid but the front top lid alone needs to be detached to clean the wind deflector when it has become dirty.
- According to another aspect of the present invention, a cooker is combined with the discharged steam diluting device having any one of the structures described above.
- With this structure, it is possible to provide a cooker that does not make a wall wet with gas it discharges.
- According to the present invention, since steam is discharged from a cooker through a gas discharge passage in a frontward direction or a diagonally frontward direction of the cooker after it is mixed with ambient air to be diluted, and thus a moisture source therein is reduced, even when the cooker is placed in a narrow space in a kitchen such as a space under a shelf cupboard or between a wall and a refrigerator, steam does not stay in the narrow space, and this helps prevent a wall surface in the narrow space from becoming hot or prevent condensation from forming on the wall surface. In addition, since a duct and a blower are integrated as a detachable discharged gas cooling unit that is separate from a cooker main body, the duct and blower can be an option, and thus the user, if he/she does not need them, can purchase the cooker main body alone at a lower cost than otherwise.
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FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a cooker; -
FIG. 2 is a front view of the cooker; -
FIG. 3 is a front view showing a heating chamber, with the door to the heating chamber opened; -
FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view illustrating how a food tray is used; -
FIG. 5 is a diagram for illustrating the overall structure; -
FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a gas discharge passage; -
FIG. 7 is a front view of a discharged gas cooling unit; -
FIG. 8 is a top view of the discharged gas cooling unit; -
FIG. 9 is a horizontal sectional view of the discharged gas cooling unit; -
FIG. 10 is a partially-enlarged vertical sectional view taken along line A-A inFIG. 9 ; -
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the bottom surface of the discharged gas cooling unit; -
FIG. 12 is a control block diagram; -
FIG. 13 is a horizontal sectional view showing the discharged gas cooling unit combined with a cooker main body of a different type; -
FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an adapter; and -
FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the adapter as seen from a different direction. -
-
- 1 cooker
- 2 cooker main body
- 3 discharged gas cooling unit
- 11 door
- 12 handle
- 20 heating chamber
- 30 outer circulation passage
- 32 blower
- 40 heat medium heating portion
- 60 steam generating device
- 77 leak passage
- 78 gas discharge passage
- 79 damper
- 90 control device
- 124 outlet port
- 126 water drain port
- 150 casing
- 152 duct
- 152L, 152R branch ducts
- 153 inlet port
- 154 outlet port
- 155 throat portion
- 156 nozzle
- 157 blower
- 162 gap
- 163 front top lid
- 164 rear top lid
- 165 wind deflector
- 166 isolation chamber
- 167 lid
- 168 reservoir recess
- 170 adapter
- A description will be given of an example of a cooker provided with a discharged steam diluting device of the present invention with reference to
FIGS. 1 to 12 . Acooker 1 is provided with a cookermain body 2 and a dischargedgas cooling unit 3. The structure of the cookermain body 2 will be described first. The cookermain body 2 has acabinet 10 in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, and adoor 11 is provided on the front face of thecabinet 10 for opening and closing an opening of aheating chamber 20. Thedoor 11 rotates in a vertical plane about a door rotation axis (not shown) horizontally provided at the bottom thereof. When ahandle 12 fitted in an upper part of thedoor 11 is held and pulled frontward, thedoor 11 changes its position through 90 degrees from a vertical, closed state shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 to a horizontal, fully-opened state shown inFIG. 3 . - A
middle part 11C of thedoor 11 has a pane of heat-resistant glass set therein to form a see-through part. On the left and right of themiddle part 11C, a left-side part 11L and a right-side part 11R, each finished with a metal decoration plate, are arranged symmetrically. On the right-side portion 11R, anoperation portion 13 is provided. In this specification, “left side” and “right side” denote the left-hand side and the right-hand side, respectively, of the user standing facing thecooker 1. Also, in thecooker 1, parts closer to the user are referred to with expressions with the word “front”, whereas parts farther away from the user are referred to with expressions with the word “rear”. - When the
door 11 is opened, a front face of thecabinet 10 appears as shown inFIG. 3 . In the part of thecabinet 10 corresponding to themiddle part 11C of thedoor 11, theheating chamber 20 is provided. In the part of thecabinet 10 corresponding to the left-side part 11L of thedoor 11, a watertank accommodating portion 80 is provided. In the part of thecabinet 10 corresponding to the right-side part 11R of thedoor 11, a control circuit board is arranged inside, with no opening provided in front thereof. - The
heating chamber 20 has the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, and an opening is formed in the front face thereof at which it faces thedoor 11 for putting and taking food in and out of theheating chamber 20. The other faces of theheating chamber 20 are formed of stainless steel plates. Around theheating chamber 20, heat insulation is applied. - The cooker
main body 2 is designed to use not only a heat medium but also a microwave to heat food. A description will be given below of how food is heated, mainly with reference toFIG. 5 . - A
microwave generating device 21 is disposed under a bottom part of theheating chamber 20. Specifically, the bottom part of theheating chamber 20 is made of a material such as glass or ceramics that transmits a microwave, and anantenna chamber 22 is formed thereunder. In theantenna chamber 22, anantenna 23 is accommodated, and theantenna 23 swings in a horizontal plane by being driven by anantenna motor 24. To theantenna chamber 22, a microwave is sent from amagnetron 25 through awaveguide tube 26, and theantenna 23 supplies the thus sent microwave into theheating chamber 20. Themagnetron 25 oscillates with power supplied from a microwave driving power supply 27 (seeFIG. 12 ). - Under the bottom part of the
heating chamber 20, in addition to themicrowave generating device 21, alower heater 28 is disposed. Thelower heater 28 heats the heat medium present inside theheating chamber 20 up to a predetermined temperature in cooperation with aheat medium heater 42, which will be described later. - The
cooker 1 uses superheated steam or hot air as a heat medium, and the heat medium circulates along a circulation passage composed of theheat chamber 20 and anouter circulation passage 30. Theouter circulation passage 30 starts at aninlet port 31 formed at an upper part of a rear wall of theheating chamber 20. Theinlet port 31 is formed as a set of small through holes. - The
inlet port 31 is followed by ablower 32. Theblower 32 is fitted to the outer surface of the rear wall of theheating chamber 20. Theblower 32 is provided with acentrifugal fan 33, afan casing 34 accommodating thecentrifugal fan 33, and a fan motor 35 (seeFIG. 6 ) that rotates thecentrifugal fan 33. Used as thecentrifugal fan 33 is a sirocco fan. Used as thefan motor 35 is a direct-current motor capable of high-speed rotation. - The heat medium discharged from the
fan casing 34 is sent through aduct 36 to a heatmedium heating portion 40. The heatmedium heating portion 40, which is composed of a heatmedium heating chamber 41 formed above a ceiling part of theheating chamber 20 and theheat medium heater 42 disposed in the heatmedium heating chamber 41, is provided at a position corresponding to the center of the ceiling part of theheating chamber 20 as seen from above. Theheat medium heater 42 is built with a sheath heater. - The heat medium, after being heated at the heat
medium heating portion 40, is supplied to theheating chamber 20 as jets coming from above and sideways into theheating chamber 20. - As previously described, the circulation passage of the heat medium has a simple composition and the shortest possible length, running from the
inlet port 31 formed in the rear wall of theheating chamber 20, via theblower 32 fitted to the outer surface of the rear wall, to the heatmedium heating portion 40 provided on the ceiling part of theheating chamber 20, and back to theheating chamber 20. This makes it easy to prevent entry of ambient air. Such a circulation passage makes it possible to feed an ample amount of steam into theheating chamber 20 to replace gas present inside theheating chamber 20 with the steam to achieve a low-oxygen state (where the oxygen density is 0.5% or less) that is an approximately oxygen-free state. - A description will be given below of how a jet is formed inside the
heating chamber 20. An upper heatmedium supply port 43 is provided at an upper part of theheating chamber 20. The upper heatmedium supply port 43 is built as ajet cover 44, which is not only a bottom part of the heatmedium heating chamber 41 but also a part of the ceiling part of theheating chamber 20. Thejet cover 44 has the shape of an inverted dome that is trapezoidal in vertical section. A large part around the center of thejet cover 44 is formed as a horizontal surface, in which are formed a plurality of vertical jet holes 45 from which the heat medium is jetted vertically downward. The remaining part, which is around the horizontal surface, is formed as a tilted surface, in which are formed a plurality of oblique jet holes 46 from which the heat medium is jetted obliquely downward. - On the outer surfaces of the right and left side walls of the
heating chamber 20, side heat medium supply ports 47 (seeFIG. 4 ) are provided in a laterally symmetrical fashion. The heat medium is sent to the two side heatmedium supply ports 47 through aduct 48 from the heatmedium heating portion 40. The heating chamber-20 side of each of the side heatmedium supply ports 47 is formed as an opening, from which the heat medium flows into theheating chamber 20 as a jet. That is, these parts function as jet-flow forming portions. Bottom parts of the side heatmedium supply ports 47 function asguide portions 49 for determining directions of jets. - The
cooker 1 is provided with asteam generating device 60 for generating steam as the heat medium. Thesteam generating device 60 has acylindrical pot 61 disposed such that its centerline is vertically positioned. - The interior of the
pot 61 is concentrically separated by acylindrical partition 62; the section inside thepartition 62 is a waterlevel detecting chamber 63 and the section outside thepartition 62 is asteam generating chamber 64. Thepartition 62 reaches near the bottom of thepot 61, and the waterlevel detecting chamber 63 and thesteam generating chamber 64 communicate with each other in water. The upper space of the waterlevel detecting chamber 63 communicates with the atmosphere. In thesteam generating chamber 64, asteam generating heater 65 formed as a coiled sheath heater is disposed for heating water. In an upper part of thesteam generating chamber 64, asteam deriving pipe 64 a is provided to lead to asteam supply pipe 66. In the figure, thesteam deriving pipe 64 a is disposed in the ceiling of thepot 61, but it may be disposed in the side of thepot 61. - The exit part of the
steam supply pipe 66 is connected to the suction side of thefan casing 34. Thus, the fan casing 34 functions as a steam supply portion supplying steam to the circulation passage. Thesteam supply pipe 66 is built with a flexible tube such as a rubber tube or a silicone tube. In a case where thesteam deriving pipe 64 a is integrally formed with thepot 61, thesteam deriving pipe 64 a is inserted into thesteam supply pipe 66 to link thesteam supply pipe 66 to thepot 61. - A
water supply pipe 67 and anoverflow pipe 68 are each connected to thepot 61 so as to communicate with space in the upper part of the waterlevel detecting chamber 63. Water is poured into thepot 61 through thewater supply pipe 67 from awater tank 81 accommodated in the water tank accommodating chamber 80 (seeFIG. 3 ), and awater supply pump 69 is provided on the way along thewater supply pipe 67. The bottom part of thepot 61 is formed in the shape of a funnel, and awater drain pipe 70 extends therefrom. Awater drain valve 71 is provided on the way along thewater drain pipe 70. - The
water supply pump 69 sucks water up not directly from thewater tank 81 but from anintermediate tank 72 which is connected to thewater tank 81. From the bottom of thewater tank 81, anoutlet pipe 82 protrudes toward the rear of the watertank accommodating chamber 80, and theoutlet pipe 82 is connected to aninlet pipe 73 protruding laterally from theintermediate tank 72. - When the
water tank 81 is pulled out from the watertank accommodating portion 80, theoutlet pipe 82 is disconnected from theinlet pipe 73, and thus, unless some measure is taken, the water inside thewater tank 81 and theintermediate tank 72 spills out. To prevent this, theoutlet pipe 82 and theinlet pipe 73 are fitted with coupling plugs 74 a and 74 b. In the state where theoutlet pipe 82 is connected to theinlet pipe 73 as shown inFIG. 5 , the coupling plugs 74 a and 74 b couple to each other to permit passage of water; when theoutlet pipe 82 is disconnected from theinlet pipe 73, the coupling plugs 74 a and 74 b are each shut to prevent water from spilling out of thewater tank 81 and theintermediate tank 72. - The
water supply pipe 67 enters theintermediate tank 72 and an end thereof extends close to the bottom of theintermediate tank 72. Theoverflow pipe 68 is connected to the upper space of theintermediate tank 72. The upper space in theintermediate tank 72 communicates with the atmosphere via an unillustrated pressure release opening, and thus the upper space in the waterlevel detecting chamber 63 also communicates with the atmosphere. Thewater drain pipe 70 is connected to awater supply port 83 of thewater tank 81. - In the water
level detecting chamber 63, a potwater level sensor 75 is disposed for detecting the water level in thepot 61. In theintermediate tank 72, awater level sensor 76 is disposed for detecting the water level therein. The potwater level sensor 75 is composed of a pair of electrode rods extending vertically downward from a ceiling part of the waterlevel detecting chamber 63, and thewater level sensor 76 is composed of a total of four electrode rods extending vertically downward from a ceiling part of theintermediate tank 72. A GND electrode a potential at which is a reference potential and a positive electrode are included in the electrode rods. Of the four electrode rods of thewater level sensor 76, two are longer than the other two, one of which is shorter than the other; the two longer electrodes extend close to a bottom part of theintermediate tank 72. Incidentally, the potwater level sensor 75 is located a little higher than thesteam generating heater 65. - In the
heating chamber 20, aleak passage 77 is formed to allow the heat medium to leak out of theheating chamber 20 to adjust the interior pressure of theheating chamber 20. On the other hand, in thefan casing 34, agas discharge passage 78 is formed for discharging a large amount of heat medium at one stroke. At the entrance of thegas discharge passage 78, an electrically-operateddamper 79 is provided for opening/closing thegas discharge passage 78. - As shown in
FIG. 6 , thefan casing 34 is formed by combining twoshells shell 34 a, which is located on the side that faces theheating chamber 20, aninlet port 37 is formed to connect to theinlet port 31. Since pressure is negative at the suction side of thecentrifugal fan 33, air tends to flow through the joint of theinlet port 37 and an outer surface of theheating chamber 20. To prevent this, it is necessary to firmly join theinlet port 37 to the outer surface of theheating chamber 20. This is because inflow of air through the joint makes it difficult to realize oxygen-free cooking which will be described later. To achieve this object, air inflow preventing means is provided at the joint of the outer surface of theheating chamber 20 and theinlet port 37. - The air inflow preventing means is realized by taking one of or a combination of various measures including: forming the
inlet port 37 in a circular shape to make it easy for pressure to be uniformly applied to theinlet port 37; disposing a sealing member between the outer surface of theheating chamber 20 and theinlet port 37; and using a large number of bolts in joining thefan casing 34 to theheating chamber 20 with bolts. By taking elaborate measures to prevent air from intruding through this portion, the minimum oxygen density inside theheating chamber 20 after the gas inside theheating chamber 20 is replaced with steam, which is otherwise approximately 1%, can be reduced down to approximately 0.5%. - On the other hand, in the
shell 34 b, which is located on the side that is away from theheating chamber 20, aduct 120 forming a front half of thegas discharge passage 78 is formed back-to-back with an outlet portion through which the heat medium is discharged into theduct 36. Theduct 120 extends toward the rear side of thecabinet 10, and in an upper surface thereof, anopening 121 is formed through which anarm 79 a of thedamper 79 is inserted. Through theopening 121, thegas discharge passage 78 communicates with the atmosphere. - To an end of the
duct 120, anend cap 122 forming a rear half of thegas discharge passage 78 is connected via agasket 123. In an upper surface of theend cap 122, anoutlet port 124 is formed through which gas is discharged upward. In order to discharge gas in a predetermined direction, theoutlet port 124 has a ventilation-grill structure. - At a position in a rear top corner of the
cabinet 10, theend cap 122 is exposed to the outside of thecooker 1. Theoutlet port 124 is also exposed to the outside of thecooker 1. Gas is discharged from theoutlet port 124 not in a vertically upward direction but in a direction that is tilted a little forward with respect to the vertically upward direction. This is for preferably preventing, when thecooker 1 is placed close to a wall, discharged gas from staining the wall behind thecooker 1. Incidentally, theleak passage 77 is also connected to theend cap 122. - When the heat medium enters the
gas discharge passage 78, since the temperature of an inner wall of thegas discharge passage 78 is not high, steam contained in the heat medium condenses on the inner wall of thegas discharge passage 78. The water resulting from the condensation runs along the inner wall down to a bottom part of thegas discharge passage 78. Also, if water is splashed on theoutlet port 124 for some reason, the water flows into thegas discharge passage 78 and also runs down to the bottom part of thegas discharge passage 78. In order to prevent a humidity sensor, which will be described later, from becoming wet with the water resulting from the condensation and the water flowing in through the outlet port 124 (which will hereinafter be collectively referred to as “water”), an infiltration-water retreat portion 125 is formed at the bottom part of thegas discharge passage 78. In a first embodiment, the infiltration-water retreat portion 125 is formed in a bottom part of theend cap 122. In the infiltration-water retreat portion 125, awater drain port 126 is formed, and awater drain hose 127 is connected to thewater drain port 126. Thewater drain hose 127 drains water to a water receiving pan 128 (seeFIG. 5 ) placed in a bottom part of thecabinet 10. - The operation of the
cooker 1 is controlled by acontrol device 90 shown inFIG. 12 . Thecontrol device 90 includes a microprocessor and a memory, and controls thecooker 1 according to a predetermined program. The status of control is indicated on adisplay portion 14 in theoperation portion 13. The display portion is built with, for example, a liquid crystal panel. Thecontrol device 90 receives operation instructions from various operation keys arranged on theoperation portion 13 as they are operated. In theoperation portion 13, a sound generating device is also arranged for generating various sounds. - Connected to the
control device 90 are not only theoperation portion 13 and thedisplay portion 14 but also theantenna motor 24, the microwavedrive power supply 27, thelower heater 28, thefan motor 35, theheat medium heater 42, thesteam generating heater 65, thewater supply pump 69, thewater drain valve 71, thedamper 79, the potwater level sensor 75, and thewater level sensor 76. In addition to these, atemperature sensor 91 for measuring temperature inside theheating chamber 20 and ahumidity sensor 92 for measuring humidity of gas that is being discharged through thegas discharge passage 78 are connected to thecontrol device 90. Thehumidity sensor 92 is disposed in theduct 120 above a bottom surface of theduct 120, specifically on an inner wall of theduct 120 downstream side of thedamper 79 in the gas discharge direction. - Food F is supported inside the
heating chamber 20 by afood tray 100 forming a food support unit U together with afood support net 110. In theheating chamber 20, a tray holder is provided for holding thefood tray 100 at a predetermined height when thefood tray 100 is inserted therein. In this embodiment, on both of the side walls of theheating chamber 20, the tray holder is formed for horizontally supporting thefood tray 100 by holding right and left sides of thefood tray 100. - As shown in
FIG. 3 , the tray holders are provided in three stages from the topmost stage to the bottommost stage. Afirst tray holder 101 located at the topmost stage supports thefood tray 100 at a position above side flows of the heat medium flowing into theheating chamber 20 from the side heatmedium supply ports 47. Asecond tray holder 102 located at a middle stage supports thefood tray 100 at a position where the side flows of the heat medium flow to thefood tray 100 from above. Athird tray holder 103 located at the bottommost stage supports thefood tray 100 at a position a predetermined distance below thesecond tray holder 102. The first, second, andthird tray holders heating chamber 20. - When the food F is one from which melted fat and meat juice drip while it is cooked, or one that requires the heat medium to flow along the bottom surface thereof, the
food support net 110 is placed above thefood tray 100, and the food F is placed on thefood support net 110. - As cooking modes, the
cooker 1 has: a hot-air cooking mode in which heat is applied by use of hot air; a steam cooking mode in which heat is applied by use of steam; and a microwave cooking mode in which heat is applied by use of a microwave. The steam cooking mode includes a steam roasting mode in which heat is applied by use of superheated steam and a steaming mode in which food is steamed with saturated steam. - The cooker
main body 2 is operated and operates as follows. In a case of cooking in the steam roasting mode using superheated steam as the heat medium, first, thedoor 11 is opened, then thewater tank 81 is taken out from the watertank accommodating portion 80, and then water is poured into thewater tank 81 through thewater supply port 83. Filled with water, thewater tank 81 is then put back into the watertank accommodating portion 80 and is set in position. When theoutlet pipe 82 is confirmed to have been securely connected to theinlet pipe 73 of theintermediate tank 72, thefood tray 100 is put in theheating chamber 20 with food put thereon with thefood support net 110 therebetween, and thedoor 11 is closed, And then, operation keys provided on theoperation panel 13 are pressed as necessary to select an option from a cooking menu or to make various settings, and cooking is started. - When the
outlet pipe 82 is connected to theinlet pipe 73, thewater tank 81 and theintermediate tank 72 communicate with each other, and levels of water in them become equal. Thus, the level of water in thewater tank 81 can also be measured by thewater level sensor 76 that measures the level of water in theintermediate tank 72. If the amount of water inside thewater tank 81 is found to be sufficient to execute the selected option in the cooking menu, thecontrol device 90 starts to generate steam; if the amount water inside thewater tank 81 is found to be insufficient to execute the selected option in the cooking menu, thecontrol device 90 indicates the corresponding warning on thedisplay portion 14. In this case, thecontrol device 90 does not start to generate steam until the shortage of water is overcome. - When it becomes possible to start to generate steam, the
water supply pump 69 starts to operate, and starts to supply water to thesteam generating device 60. At this point, thewater drain valve 71 is closed. - Water collects inside the
pot 61 from the bottom thereof up. When the water level there reaches a predetermined level, the operation of thewater supply pump 69 is stopped. Incidentally, if thewater supply pump 69 fails to stop its operation due to failure in the control system or for other causes, the water level inside thepot 61 continues to rise beyond a predetermined level; however, when it reaches an overflow level, the water inside thepot 61 returns to theintermediate tank 72 through theoverflow pipe 68. Thus, water does not overflow from thepot 61. - Now, electric power starts to be supplied to the
steam generating heater 65. Thesteam generating heater 65 heats the water inside thesteam generating chamber 64 directly. The temperature of water inside the waterlevel detecting chamber 63 also rises as a result of water circulating between the waterlevel detecting chamber 63 and thesteam generating chamber 64 through the communicating portion and also as a result of heat transfer to the waterlevel detecting chamber 63 through thepartition 62; however, the rising rate of the temperature is moderate compared with that of the water inside thesteam generating chamber 64. - When the water inside the
steam generating chamber 64 boils to generate saturated steam, electric power stops being supplied to the steam generating heater 52. Now electric power starts to be supplied to theblower 32 and theheat medium heater 42. Theblower 32 sucks in air from theheating chamber 20 through theinlet port 31. Theblower 32 also sucks in saturated steam from thesteam generating device 60 through thesteam supply pipe 66. The air and the saturated steam is mixed together and the mixture gas of the air and the saturated steam is discharged by theblower 32 to be sent into the heatmedium heating portion 40 via theduct 36. At this time, thedamper 79 closes the entrance of thegas discharge passage 78. - The steam that has entered the heat
medium heating portion 40 is heated to 300° C. by theheat medium heater 42, and is thus turned into superheated steam. The superheated steam jets into theheating chamber 20 from the upper heatmedium supply port 43 as downward and obliquely downward jets. Part of the superheated steam flows through theducts 48 into the side heatmedium supply ports 47, and is then jetted out into theheating chamber 20 as a little downward sideway heat medium jets through the side heatmedium supply ports 47. These jets of the superheated steam, too, heat the food F. - In heating by use of superheated steam, food F is heated by not only heat transferred by convection (specific heat of steam 0.48 cal/g/° C.) but also condensation heat (latent heat) generated when superheated steam condenses on the surface of the food F. A large amount of heat can be applied in the form of the condensation heat, which is as large as 539 cal/g, and thereby the food F is heated quickly. In addition, the superheated steam condenses preferentially on a low-temperature part of the surface of the food F, and this helps reduce unevenness in heating.
- When superheated steam comes in contact with food F whose surface temperature is low, it instantly condenses to form condensation to transfer a large amount of heat to the food F. Then, moisture contained in the food F starts to evaporate in a recovery process, and after the recovery process, the food F starts to be dried. In this way, the food F is cooked to be crisp on the surface while maintaining moist inside. Furthermore, in comparison with cooking by use of hot air, cooking by use of superheated steam is superior in deoiling effect, salt reducing effect, vitamin C degradation inhibiting effect, and oil oxidation inhibiting effect.
- In cooking by use of superheated steam, the
heat medium heater 42 is not necessarily supplied with electric power continuously; electric power is sometimes supplied to thelower heater 28 instead. Incidentally, the amounts of electric power consumption by the heaters are set, for example, such that the electric power consumption by thesteam generating heater 65 is 1300 W, that by theheat medium heater 42 is also 1300 W, and that by thelower heater 28 is 700 W. Under the electric power allowances of ordinary households, it is impossible to simultaneously select two or more of these heaters as power supply targets to be supplied with electric power, and thus, duty control is adopted here to change the power supply target in turn in a time-division manner to obtain an optimum result. The same applies to the heating by use of hot air. - When the interior pressure of the
heating chamber 20 increases, the steam present therein enters thegas discharge passage 78 via theleak passage 77, and blows out from theoutlet port 124. The thus discharged steam is diluted at the dischargedgas cooling unit 3, which will be described later. - As the
steam generating device 60 continues generating steam, the water level inside thepot 61 falls. When thewater level sensor 75 detects that the water level has fallen to a predetermined level, thecontrol device 90 restarts the operation of thewater supply pump 69. Thewater supply pump 69 sucks up water from theintermediate tank 72 to supply a given amount of water to thepot 61. When thepot 61 is refilled with water, thecontrol device 90 stops the operation of thewater supply pump 69 again. - On completion of cooking, the
control device 90 indicates a corresponding message on thedisplay portion 14 and sounds an alert. Notified with these message and alert that cooking has been finished, the user opens thedoor 11, and takes thefood tray 100 out of theheating chamber 20. If no cooking is scheduled thereafter, thewater discharge valve 71 opens and the water present inside thepot 61 is returned to thewater tank 81. - In the steam cooking mode, saturated steam before turned into superheated steam is sent into the
heating chamber 20 to steam cook the food F. - In the steam cooking mode, either in steam roasting mode or steaming mode, the
damper 79 is positioned as shown inFIG. 6 to close thegas discharge passage 78 to inhibit steam from entering thehumidity sensor 92 side of thegas discharge passage 78. This helps prevent gas containing a large amount of steam from coming in touch with thehumidity sensor 92 to condense thereon. Furthermore, since thedamper 79 inhibits steam from entering thegas discharge passage 78, the steam density inside theheating chamber 20 increases to reduce the oxygen density inside theheating chamber 20 to be close to zero; in this way, oxygen-free cooking can be achieved with ease. - In the steam cooking mode, the food F is heated with the oxygen density inside
heating chamber 20 maintained 0.5% or lower. With oxygen density of this level, the cooking effects expected from oxygen-free cooking can be substantially fully achieved. - When the hot-air cooking mode in which hot air is used as a heating medium is selected, regardless of the amount of water present in the
water tank 81, power supply to theheat medium heater 42 and operation of theblower 32 are immediately started. In this case, the food F is heated with a jet of hot air. As in the case of heating with superheated steam, power supply to theheat medium heater 42 and thelower heater 28 is controlled in a time-division manner. - If the
door 11 is opened while cooking is being performed with superheated steam or hot air, it is likely that the superheated steam or the hot air inside flows toward the user. The same applies after the completion of cooking. To prevent this, when thedoor 11 is opened while a hot heat medium is circulating, thedamper 79 is operated to open the entrance of thegas discharge passage 78 to lead the hot heat medium into thegas discharge passage 78. - When the microwave cooking mode in which heat is applied by use of a microwave is selected, the
microwave generating device 21 is driven. Themicrowave generating device 21 can be used alone, and it can also be used together with superheated steam or hot air. - In microwave cooking, the
damper 79 moves to a position where it allows steam to flow into thehumidity sensor 92 side of thegas discharge passage 78. As a result, gas containing steam from the food is discharged out of thecooker 1. Thehumidity sensor 92 measures the humidity of this gas. When the measured humidity reaches a predetermined value or more, thecontrol device 90 recognizes that steam has jetted out from the food F as a result of the food F fully heated, that is, cooking has been completed, and stops the microwave heating. - The
damper 79, when it has moved to the position where it allows steam to flow into thehumidity sensor 92 side of thegas discharge passage 78, closes theopening 121 from inside thegas discharge passage 78. This control prevents air from flowing in through theopening 121 to dilute steam, and prevents steam from leaking outside through theopening 121. This helps avoid the inconvenience of measurement error of thehumidity sensor 92 becoming large. - As already mentioned, the food F placed on the
food tray 100 is inserted in theheating chamber 20, and at this time, different tray holder is selected to support thefood tray 100 for different options in the cooking menu. When cooking by use of superheated steam is selected, thefood tray 100 should be supported by thesecond tray holder 102, and a corresponding message is indicated in thedisplay portion 14 as an instruction. Cooking by use of hot air can be performed with thefood tray 100 supported by any one of thefirst tray holder 101, thesecond tray holder 103, and thethird tray holder 103. Cooking by use of hot air can also be performed using two food trays, that is, with two of thefood tray 100 respectively supported by thefirst tray holder 101 and thethird tray holder 103. When cooking using two food trays is selected, in thedisplay portion 14 is indicated a message to the effect that thefirst tray holder 101 and thethird tray holder 103 are to be used. - When the
second tray holder 102 is used to hold thefood tray 100, thefood support net 110 is placed above thefood tray 100, and the food F is placed on thesupport net 110 to float above the surface of thefood tray 100. Thefood support net 110 can also exert its advantage when it is used with thefood tray 100 supported by thefirst tray holder 101 or thethird tray holder 103. However, when thefood tray 100 is supported by thesecond tray holder 102, the use of thefood support net 110 is substantially indispensable to allow the side heat medium jets flowing out in obliquely downward directions from the side heatmedium supply ports 47 to flow along the bottom surface of the food F. - Superheated steam is blown downward from the upper heat
medium supply port 43 onto the food F placed on thefood tray 100 supported by thesecond tray holder 102. Furthermore, the side heat medium jets of superheated steam from the side heatmedium supply ports 47 hit the surface of thefood tray 100 to change their directions upward, superheated steam is also blown onto the bottom surface of the food F. In this way, superheated steam is blown both from above and from below onto the food F, and thus all parts of the food F evenly receive heat transferred by convection and condensate heat (latent heat) to be efficiently heated. Melted fat and meat juice dripping down from the food F is received by thefood tray 100, and is discarded after cooking is finished. - Needless to say, the food F placed on the
food tray 100 supported by thesecond tray holder 102 can be cooked by use of hot air. Being put on thefood supporting net 110 above thefood tray 100, the food F can be evenly heated with hot air blowing thereonto both from above and from below. In this case, too, melted fat and meat juice dripping down from the food F is received by thefood tray 100, and is discarded after cooking is finished. - As described above, the
humidity sensor 92 disposed on the inner wall of thegas discharge passage 78 is used in microwave cooking for determining whether or not cooking is finished. At this time, condensation is formed inside thegas discharge passage 78. Besides during microwave cooking, when thedoor 11 is opened during cooking with superheated steam, thedamper 79 opens to allow a large amount of steam flow into thegas discharge passage 78 to form condensation. - The condensation flows down to the bottom part of the
gas discharge passage 78. If the condensation accumulates so much that thehumidity sensor 92 becomes wet with the condensation, thehumidity sensor 92 cannot measure humidity. In this embodiment, however, since the infiltration-water retreat portion 125 is provided, the condensation flowing down to the bottom part of thegas discharge passage 78 retreats to the infiltration-water retreat portion 125, and thus does not accumulate so much as to make thehumidity sensor 92 wet. Thus, humidity never fails to be measured. - In the infiltration-
water retreat portion 125, thewater drain port 126 is provided. This helps immediately discharge the condensation to prevent thehumidity sensor 92 from becoming wet with water. Water flowing in through theoutlet port 124 is also discharged from thewater drain port 126, and thus never comes close to thehumidity sensor 92. - Since the
humidity sensor 92 is located to the upstream side of the infiltration-water retreat portion 125 in the air discharge direction, even if the condensation water rushes toward thehumidity sensor 92, it is pushed back by discharged air pressure; thus thehumidity sensor 92 is prevented from becoming wet with water. - The
gas discharge passage 78 constantly communicates with the atmosphere via theopening 121. As a result, even if condensation forms on thehumidity sensor 92, it can be easily dried off except while steam is being circulated, and this makes it possible for thehumidity sensor 92 to perform accurate measurement of humidity. - Next, a description will be given of the discharged
gas cooling unit 3 that functions as a device for diluting discharged steam with reference toFIGS. 5 to 11 . - The discharged
gas cooling unit 3 is to be placed on the top surface of the cookermain body 2, and has its main components accommodated in acasing 150 that is made of a synthetic resin. Thecasing 150 is in the shape of a flat box, but it is not rectangular in the plan view, the right/left width thereof a little wider toward the front edge (seeFIG. 8 ).Elastic legs 151 formed of rubber or a soft synthetic resin are provided in proper positions on a bottom surface of thecasing 150 to prevent vibration of the dischargedgas cooling unit 3 from reaching thecabinet 10 and to prevent the dischargedgas cooling unit 3 from easily sliding. - Inside the
casing 150 is formed aduct 152 extending in the rear/front direction (seeFIGS. 5 and 9 ). The rear end of theduct 152 is formed as aninlet port 153 and the front end of theduct 152 is formed as anoutlet port 154. On the way along theduct 152, athroat portion 155 having a reduced flow passage area is formed. Theduct 152 is branched intobranch ducts throat portion 155. Thebranch ducts outlet port 154 formed at its end. To fit with theoutlet port 124, which is disposed rather in a left side of the cookermain body 2, the section of theduct 152 from theinlet port 153 to thethroat portion 155 is disposed rather in a left side of thecasing 150. - On the upstream side of the
throat portion 155, anozzle 156 is disposed to be coaxial with thethroat portion 155. Through thenozzle 156, wind from a blower 157 (seeFIG. 9 ) disposed outside theduct 152 is blown into thethroat portion 155 toward theoutlet ports 154. When wind is blown into thethroat portion 155 from thenozzle 156, an ejector effect is created, and air is sucked in through theinlet port 153. Incidentally, theblower 157 has the same structure as theblower 32, and includes a centrifugal fan, a fan motor 158 (seeFIG. 12 ) for rotating the centrifugal fan, and a fan casing accommodating the centrifugal fan and thefan motor 158. Used as the centrifugal fan is a sirocco fan, and used as thefan motor 158 is a direct-current motor capable of high-speed rotation. An inlet portion of theblower 157 is provided in the bottom surface of the fan casing. - The cooker
main body 2 and the dischargedgas cooling unit 3 are connected to each other with an unillustrated connector, and the dischargedgas cooling unit 3 is supplied with power and controlled from the cookermain body 2. Thefan motor 158 is controlled by thecontrol device 90. - At a rear end of the
casing 150, in a position corresponding to theoutlet port 124, apendent portion 160 is formed (seeFIGS. 6 and 7 ). Thependent portion 160 has, on a front surface thereof, apositioning protrusion 161 in the shape of the letter E lying on its side. Theend cap 122 also has apositioning protrusion 129 on a rear surface thereof (seeFIG. 6 ). When the positioningprotrusions gas cooling unit 3 and the cookermain body 2 superimpose on each other, and the dischargedgas cooling unit 3 is inhibited from sliding in a right/left direction with respect to the cookermain body 2. That is, the positioningprotrusions main body 2 and the dischargedgas cooling unit 3. - When the discharged
gas cooling unit 3 is placed on the cookermain body 2 such that thepositioning protrusion 161 is engaged with thepositioning protrusion 129, theinlet port 153 covers theoutlet port 124; in this state, however, theinlet port 153 does not precisely fit theoutlet port 124. That is, since theinlet port 153 is wider than theoutlet port 124 in the front/rear direction, a rear part of theinlet port 153 lies off theoutlet port 124, and thereby a gap 162 (seeFIG. 9 ) is formed. Thegap 162 serves as an ambient air inlet port. Incidentally,FIG. 9 shows that, in theoutlet port 124 exist not only an air-flow guide plate extending in the right/left direction but also an air-flow guide plate extending in the front/rear direction. The air-flow guide plate extending in the front/rear direction includes a plurality of air-flow guide plates extending in the front/rear direction, which are arranged at predetermined intervals in the right/left direction. - The top surface portion of the
casing 150 is composed of a detachable top lid. The top lid is divided into a fronttop lid 163 and a rear top lid 164 (seeFIG. 8 ), both of which are snap-fittingly attached to thecasing 150 by making use of elasticity of the synthetic resin. InFIG. 9 , the dash-dot-dot line indicates a division line between the front and reartop lids top lids duct 152, and the interior of the main body of the duct 152 (part thereof except the top surface) appears when the fronttop lid 163 or the reartop lid 164 is detached. - Interior pressure of the
duct 152 becomes positive downstream of thethroat section 155. This tends to cause leakage of steam through a fitting portion between the top lids and the main body of the duct in the section from thethroat portion 155 to theoutlet ports 154. To prevent this, steam-leakage preventing means is provided in the fitting portion between the top lids and the main body of the duct in the section. - The steam-leakage preventing means is built as a complicatedly intricate rib structure. Specifically, upper ends of a
side wall 152 a of the main body of the duct and anouter side wall 150 a of thecasing 150 are linked with each other by a horizontaltop wall 169. From a top surface of thetop wall 169, two threads ofribs rib 169 a extends parallel to theouter side wall 150 a, and therib 169 b extends parallel to theside wall 152 a. From the fronttop lid 163 side, arib 163 a extends downward from an outer edge of the fronttop lid 163, and from a position inward from the outer edge of the fronttop lid 163, arib 163 b extends downward. Therib 163 a, together with theouter side wall 150 a, forms the outer side wall of thecasing 150; therib 163 b, together with theside wall 152 a, forms an inner side wall of theduct 152. Theribs ribs - Here, a lower end of the
rib 163 b and an upper end of theside wall 152 a are firmly fitted to each other without a gap, or, if any, with an extremely narrow gap to prevent leakage of steam; an upper end of therib 169 a and a bottom surface of the fronttop lid 163 are firmly fitted to each other without a gap, or, if any, with an extremely narrow gap to prevent leakage of steam; an upper end of therib 169 b and the bottom surface of the fronttop lid 163 are firmly fitted to each other without a gap, or, if any, with an extremely narrow gap to prevent leakage of steam; and a lower end of therib 163 a and an upper end of theouter side wall 150 a are firmly fitted to each other without a gap, or, if any, with an extremely narrow gap to prevent leakage of steam. In this way, leakage of steam is prevented at four positions, and this makes it possible to effectively prevent leakage of steam from theduct 152. - To prevent leakage of steam even more securely, a gasket may be laid between the lower end of the
rib 163 b and the upper end of theside wall 152 a, between the upper end of therib 169 a and the bottom surface of the fronttop lid 163, between the upper end of therib 169 a and the bottom surface of the fronttop lid 163, or between the lower end of therib 163 a and the upper end of theouter side wall 150 a. - Steam leakage preventing means as described above is also provided at the right side edge of the front
top lid 163. Furthermore, in the reartop lid 164, steam leakage preventing means as described above is provided at a position in a section corresponding to “the section from thethroat portion 155 and theoutlet ports 154”. - To the front
top lid 163 is attached awind deflector 165 for deflecting wind blowing out from theoutlet ports 154. Thewind deflector 165 is of a type typically used at outlet ports of air conditioners, and built as a combination of a wind deflection plate for changing the up/down wind direction and a wind deflection plate for changing the right/left wind direction. The wind deflection plates are formed to be variable in angle, and thereby the wind direction can be freely adjusted in up/down and right/left directions. When the fronttop lid 163 is detached, thewind deflector 165 is taken out together. - An
isolation chamber 166 for electric/electronic components is defined on a bottom surface of the casing 150 (seeFIG. 11 ). Accommodated in theisolation chamber 166 are electric/electronic components of the dischargedgas cooling unit 3 such as a control board of theblower 157. Alid 167 of theisolation chamber 166 is, like the top lid, snap-fittingly attached to thecasing 150 by making use of the elasticity of the synthetic resin. - In the section from the
inlet port 153 to thethroat portion 155 of theduct 152, the bottom surface of theduct 152 is lowered toward theinlet port 153, forming a water drain passage leading to theoutlet port 124. In the section from thethroat portion 155 to theoutlet ports 154, the bottom surface of theduct 152 is lowered toward theoutlet ports 154. Reservoir recesses 168 (seeFIG. 5 ) are formed at the lowermost positions. - Next, a description will be given of the operation of the discharged
gas cooling unit 3. Thefan motor 158 starts to be driven at the same time that cooking is started in the cookermain body 2. Consequently, wind is blown out from thenozzle 156, and air is sucked in through theinlet port 153 due to the ejector effect created at thethroat portion 155. The thus sucked-in air flows to thebranch ducts outlet ports 154 formed at the ends of thebranch ducts outlet port 124 immediately after the start of cooking, there may be a time lag before theblower 157 starts to be driven after the start of cooking. - Hot gas discharged from the
outlet port 124 during cooking, that is, hot heat medium leaking out through theleak passage 77 and hot heat medium flowing out from thegas discharge passage 78 when thedamper 79 is opened in the hot air cooking mode and in the steam cooking mode, or steam coming out from food when cooking is finished, is sucked from theinlet port 153 into theduct 152. Theinlet port 153 is also sucking in ambient air through thegap 162, and the gas from theoutlet port 124 is mixed with the ambient air and its temperature is lowered. At the same time, discharged steam contained in the gas is diluted so that it hardly causes a wall to become wet. - The thus diluted gas is discharged from the
outlet ports 154 in the frontward direction (or in a diagonally frontward direction depending on adjustment by the wind deflector 165) of thecooker 1. Thus, even if thecooker 1 is placed in a narrow space in a kitchen such as a space under a shelf cupboard or between a wall and a refrigerator, steam does not stay in the narrow space. This helps prevent wall surface in the narrow space from becoming hot, or prevent condensation from forming on the surface of the wall. - It is the
gap 162 formed between theinlet port 153 and theoutlet port 124 that serves as the ambient air inlet port. This eliminates the need of separately preparing an ambient air inlet port, and thus a simple structure can be achieved. Furthermore, even if theoutlet port 124 is located near the wall surface, ambient air flows along the wall surface when it is sucked in, and this helps prevent condensation from forming due to the discharged gas. - It is an ejector structure formed of the
throat portion 155 and thenozzle 156 that generates a suction force at theinlet port 153. Since sucked-in gas does not flow through theblower 157, theblower 157 is prevented from being exposed to hot humid gas to be damaged. - The
duct 152 is branched intobranch ducts throat portion 155. Thebranch ducts outlet ports 154 formed at the ends of them. Thus, theoutlet ports 154 are provided at two, right and left positions, avoiding the middle part of the cookermain body 2. Thus, even when the user stands in front of thecooker 1 to look into the 20 through the see-through part of thedoor 11 to check the cooking status, discharged gas flows away from the user. Thus, the user is free from the discomfort that would result from the discharged gas blowing directly to him/her. In addition, since discharged gas does not reach thehandle 12, the surface of thehandle 12 is prevented from becoming wet with water resulting from condensation, or becoming dirty with greasy fumes, the user is free from the discomfort that would result from his/her touching a wet or greasy handle. - Since the
wind deflector 165 is provided at each of theoutlet ports 154, the direction of discharged gas may be changed according to where thecooker 1 is placed so as to make discharged gas flow away from a position that should not be exposed to it. - When gas containing a large amount of steam passes through the
duct 152, the steam condenses on the inner surface of theduct 152. The condensation flows down to the bottom surface of theduct 152, and since the bottom surface of theduct 152 is tilted except thethroat portion 155, the condensation flows either in the front or rear direction. The part of the condensation that has flown toward theinlet port 153 flows into theoutlet port 124 to be drained through thewater drain port 126. This saves the user time and trouble of dealing with the condensation. - The part of the condensation that has flown toward the
outlet ports 154 is collected in the reservoir recesses 168, and this prevents water from dripping down from theoutlet ports 154. - After long-term use of the discharged
gas cooling unit 3, the interior of theduct 152 becomes dirty with greasy fumes and the like. Then, the front and reartop lids duct 152 to be cleaned. When the fronttop lid 163 is detached, thewind deflector 165 also appears, and it also can be cleaned. - The control board of the
blower 157 is isolated and accommodated in theisolation chamber 166. In this way, the control board can be protected from the heat medium, steam, and greasy fumes. - The
isolation chamber 166 may communicate with the inlet portion of theblower 157, and part of thelid 167 may be formed as an air inlet portion. With this structure, the control board can be air-cooled. Here, partitions or the like should be properly provided to prevent heat medium or steam from intruding through the air inlet portion. - The discharged
gas cooling unit 3 is intended to be used with different types of cookermain bodies 2.Outlet ports 124 of different types of cookermain bodies 2 have different shapes, to which the dischargedgas cooling unit 3 needs to be fitted. The mechanism will be described with reference toFIGS. 13 to 15 .FIG. 13 is a horizontal sectional view of the discharged gas cooling unit shown inFIG. 9 , andFIGS. 14 and 15 are perspective views showing an adapter as seen from different angles. - In
FIG. 13 , the dischargedgas cooling unit 3 is combined with the cookermain body 2 whoseoutlet port 124 has a narrow width in the right/left direction. With this structure, if no measure is taken, a large gap is formed between the left edge of theoutlet port 124 and the left edge of theinlet port 153, and, although a large amount of ambient air can be taken in through the large gap, only a small suction force is applied to theoutlet port 124. To deal with this, anadapter 170 shaped as shown inFIGS. 14 and 15 is fitted into the gap between the left edge of theoutlet port 124 and the left edge of theinlet port 153 to plug the gap. This prevents excessive suction of ambient air, and a predetermined suction force can be applied to theoutlet port 124. Preparation of several types ofadapters 170 allows the dischargedgas cooling unit 3 of a single type to be compatible with many types of cookermain bodies 2. - Descriptions have been given of the embodiments of the present invention, and it should be understood that, in the embodiments described above, many other modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the present invention.
- The present invention finds wide application in cookers that discharge steam.
Claims (32)
1. A discharged steam diluting device diluting steam discharged from a cooker through a gas discharge passage, the discharged steam diluting device comprising:
a duct simultaneously sucking in and mixing steam discharged from the cooker with ambient air,
wherein
an outlet port of the duct is open in a predetermined direction.
2. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined direction in which the outlet port of the duct is open is a frontward direction or a diagonally frontward direction of the cooker.
3. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 1 ,
wherein the duct has an inlet port at one end thereof and the outlet port at an other end thereof,
wherein the inlet port is located so as to cover an outlet port of the gas discharge passage, and port.
wherein a gap between the inlet port and the outlet port functions as an ambient air inlet port.
4. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 1 , wherein a wind deflector is provided in the outlet port.
5. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 1 ,
wherein a throat portion having a reduced flow passage area is formed in the duct, and
wherein wind from a blower is blown into the throat portion through a nozzle disposed coaxially with the throat portion to generate a suction force in the inlet port.
6. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 5 ,
wherein the duct is branched into two branch ducts on a downstream side of the throat portion, the two branch ducts each extending in diagonal directions to be increasingly away from each other, and
wherein the outlet port is formed one at an end of each of the branch ducts.
7. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 5 , wherein a bottom surface of the duct is lowered toward the inlet port in a section from the inlet port to the throat portion to form a water drain passage for draining water to the outlet port.
8. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 5 , wherein a bottom surface of the duct is lowered toward the outlet port in a section from the throat portion to the outlet portion, and a reservoir recess is formed at a lowermost position.
9. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 1 , wherein at least part of a top surface portion of the duct is formed detachable.
10. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 5 ,
wherein at least part of a top surface portion of the duct is formed detachable, and
wherein steam-leakage preventing means is provided at a fitting portion between the at least part of the top surface portion of the duct that is formed detachable and a main body of the duct at least in a section from the throat portion to the outlet port.
11. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 5 , wherein the duct and the blower form a detachable discharged gas cooling unit that is separate from the cooker main body.
12. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 11 ,
wherein, in the discharged gas cooling unit and in the cooker main body, positioning means is provided for determining relative positions of the discharged gas cooling unit and the cooker main body with respect to each other, and
wherein an adapter is prepared for adapting the inlet port to the gas discharge passage.
13. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 11 ,
wherein the discharged gas cooling unit and the cooker main body are connected to each other with a connector such that the discharged gas cooling unit is supplied with power and controlled from the cooker main body.
14. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 11 , wherein an electrical/electronic component isolation chamber is formed under a bottom surface of the discharged gas cooling unit.
15. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 11 , wherein part of a top surface portion of the discharged gas cooling unit is formed as a detachable top lid that can be detached to disclose an interior of the duct.
16. The discharged steam diluting device of claim 15 ,
wherein the top lid is divided into front and rear top lids, and
wherein a wind deflector is provided in the front top lid for deflecting wind blowing out from the outlet port.
17. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 1 .
18. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 2 .
19. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 3 .
20. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 4 .
21. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 5 .
22. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 6 .
23. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 7 .
24. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 8 .
25. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 9 .
26. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 10 .
27. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 11 .
28. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 12 .
29. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 13 .
30. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 14 .
31. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 15 .
32. A cooker combined with the discharged steam diluting device of claim 16 .
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP2006-298454 | 2006-11-02 | ||
JP2006298454A JP4311688B2 (en) | 2006-11-02 | 2006-11-02 | Exhaust steam diluting apparatus and cooking device equipped with the same |
PCT/JP2007/070113 WO2008053699A1 (en) | 2006-11-02 | 2007-10-16 | Device for diluting discharged vapor and cooker with the same |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20100064902A1 true US20100064902A1 (en) | 2010-03-18 |
Family
ID=39344043
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US12/513,302 Abandoned US20100064902A1 (en) | 2006-11-02 | 2007-10-16 | Device for diluting discharged steam and cooker with the same |
Country Status (6)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US20100064902A1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP2083223A4 (en) |
JP (1) | JP4311688B2 (en) |
CN (1) | CN101535722B (en) |
RU (1) | RU2422731C2 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2008053699A1 (en) |
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Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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JP4311688B2 (en) | 2009-08-12 |
CN101535722A (en) | 2009-09-16 |
CN101535722B (en) | 2011-08-03 |
RU2009120676A (en) | 2010-12-10 |
JP2008116094A (en) | 2008-05-22 |
RU2422731C2 (en) | 2011-06-27 |
EP2083223A1 (en) | 2009-07-29 |
WO2008053699A1 (en) | 2008-05-08 |
EP2083223A4 (en) | 2017-10-11 |
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